When my daughter came home yesterday to a bill of over $400 for removing a tiny lesion from her shin, it reminded me of the time a few years ago when I was sent to a fully equipped operating room, given a spinal, and incurred a Medicare charge of more than $1,100. The problem was two slivers of wood in my left foot, each an inch long but no more than 1/4-inch deep. As a child I would have been sent to the local doctor, who would have pulled them out with tweezers, daubed some iodine on the wound and charged my folks $10.

Who can argue with modern doctors? The most honest among them strive to give us A+ medical service, and they accordingly charge Medicare A+ fees.

We're tackling this Medicare thing from the wrong end.

Don Peterson

Go, Texans

Good job for a while there sharing Sports section articles on both the Cowboys and the Texans. Now with Texans 3-0, there's been nothing for the past week. Come on! Feed the hungry! Go Texans!

I fear for my children and my grandchildren, and so should you. They will never know the America I grew up in. An America that still believed in the founding principles that made this country great. An America that defended its beliefs, not apologized for them. An America that defended the world, not intervened in it. An America that worked hard, played hard, and believed “In God We Trust.”

Now, the rights of the few outnumber the rights of the many, and our beliefs are being challenged by our own government because it has gotten too big to even recognize the simple beliefs that made America great. It doesn't matter if we are rich and can afford the tickets for the upper deck or we are middle class or poor, and can only afford the tickets for the lower decks. All these tickets are on the Titanic and something has to be done to remove the icebergs.

Wake up America, this “Hope and Change” is not working. There is no hope unless we change.

Having been a kindergarten teacher in the public schools, I realize how vital early childhood education is to a student's advancement in later years. However, I am very much opposed to the Pre-K 4 SA program.

The school districts have the jurisdiction for education — not the city. There are already programs in place for the much needed early childhood education.

If we let the city now have jurisdiction in education, then perhaps we should let the school districts begin to re-stripe the city streets, or exhibit more street signs — both of which are sorely needed in our fair city!

At a time when there is renewed interest in redevelopment, housing creation, transportation improvement and historic preservation downtown, locating the children's hospital downtown makes perfect sense. In addition, there are current major investments being made by the University Hospital System at the Robert B. Green Campus. A nationally renowned children's hospital downtown would be an outstanding complement to all these public investments.

As Dr. Guerra states, that the most important reason for this location is that it is not “about convenience for doctors. Nor about building a new monolith in the Medical Center. It is about convenience and access for children and their families.”

I never cease to be amazed at the biased coverage your paper provides politicians of the left-wing stripe. A case in point is the article on the front page by Josh Baugh, reporting on Mayor Julán Castro's campaign in Florida among Puerto Ricans, for the re-election of another wealthy re-distributor who happens to occupy the White House.

The fawning obeisance of a statement like, “He shook hands, posed for photos and gracefully accepted recommendations that he should run for president in 2016 ...” is in stark contrast to coverage you have afforded tea party, conservative candidates in recent months. If the mayor were a conservative, doing this for one of his cronies, I'll bet we would see reporting about San Antonio tax payers paying for travel and time so that the mayor could campaign for his favorite party member in some other state.

I wonder if Mayor Castro is taking personal annual leave time for doing something that has nothing to do with leading San Antonio.

My husband, Steve, and I participate in Downtown Tuesday not only as Southtown residents but also as the operators of two participating businesses, The Friendly Spot Ice House and Alamo Street Eat Bar. We are strong supporters of Downtown Tuesday. Both of our businesses have seen an upswing in traffic on Tuesdays.

SA2020, Downtown Tuesday and many of the downtown initiatives are leading the way to making our city center great. They say great cities have great city centers. Downtown is exciting; don't let outdated stereotypes deter you from enjoying our urban core. You're missing out.

Come on down and join the noise, excitement and progress; we bet you'll be back soon.